Investing in Scottish Business

CRU Motorsport Set to Race Ahead After Securing Over £25K from Business Loans Scotland

23 Apr 2019

Situated 20 miles outside Aberdeen in the town of Banchory, CRU Motorsport offers a wide range of services to both new and existing motorsport competitors and motorsport teams in the UK and Europe.

With a high focus on the rally world, the team at CRU Motorsport, fronted by Director Phil Cruickshank, provide services including hire of various motorsport vehicles, sale of motorsport equipment and vehicle parts, service and maintenance, professional car respraying and more.

As a car fanatic himself, Phil started the business in April 2018 after seeing a gap in the market for a business of its kind in the North East of Scotland. Having experience in the motorsport industry and a passion for motor racing, Phil had a vision to provide a service that would allow people to get into motorsports but at a cost-effective price.

After attending events including the British Rallycross Championship, Phil was asked various questions by spectators such as how to get into rallycross and the costs associated with this. It became apparent that there was need to make this sport more financially accessible and after doing some market research, Phil decided to set up the business with a goal to find potential world class drivers.

The company currently boasts a range of vehicles on site including, a fully rally prepared Peugeot 107, a Suzuki Swift rallycross vehicle, a Ford Fiesta track car, a Subaru Impreza STI rally car and more. As a main dealer agent for Woodford Trailers, Vbox/Racelogic and Top Gear Tuning, Phil’s business has been growing from strength to strength.

Since its first day of trading in November 2018, the CRU Motorsport brand has been continually growing and to meet customer demand, Phil soon realised there was a need to purchase additional motorsport vehicles which would allow the company to increase its offering and grow the business to the next level.

Working with his Adviser at Business Gateway, Phil was made aware of Business Loans Scotland and the finance available that could help support his vision of expanding the business and so, decided to apply.

After successfully working with the team at Business Loans Scotland, Phil was delighted to secure a loan of £25,700 which he states has been invaluable:

“The loan has been so beneficial to the business and the direction I want to go with the company. The 2 years’ worth of cashflow forecasts, profit/loss and balance sheets for the business will be extremely useful now we have them as templates for where the business is heading and managing the company’s funds and direction in the future. My Business Development Executive at Aberdeenshire Council, Heather MacRae could not have been more helpful. She really helped the business to get to where we are today.”

Fund Manager of Business Loans Scotland, Andrew Dickson, added:

“I am delighted that Business Loans Scotland has been able to support CRU Motorsport with loan finance to grow their business. We are passionate about supporting the growth and development plans of SMEs across Scotland, therefore with the help of our loans, businesses can achieve their growth ambitions without delay. With a dedicated pot of £7 million in place, we are keen to support many other businesses, like CRU Motorsport, access loan funding which will allow them to flourish in the current economic environment.”